Business Notes SECURITIES FRAUD

Only last December, prominent Mexican stockbroker Eduardo Legorreta Chauvert was an honored dinner guest of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. But these days Legorreta is a guest of the Reclusorio Oriente jail in Mexico City, where he has been held without bail since Feb. 14 on charges that he traded in bogus government treasury certificates, as well as other allegations of securities fraud. Legorreta, chairman of the go-go brokerage firm Operadora de Bolsa, is the government's biggest catch in a long-awaited crackdown on irregularities in the Mexican stock exchange, La Bolsa.

The topsy-turvy Mexican market posted the world's fastest run-up during 1987, then began an even sharper tumble in early October of that year. In just 28 days, La Bolsa lost 74% of its value. The "crack," as Mexicans refer to it, wiped out tens of thousands of small investors, many of whom filed criminal complaints accusing their brokers of cheating them. The arrest of Legorreta, who had been considered immune partly because of his role as a fund raiser for Salinas, has proved popular among consumers, if not businessmen. Legorreta has denied any wrongdoing. "I am innocent," he said. "I believe in doing things according to the law."